


Stronger

by casienfey



Series: Stronger [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Yes it's supermutant romantic fluff, leave me alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26792599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casienfey/pseuds/casienfey
Summary: All Nicky’s companions had asked about Nate at one point or another.  They all got different, but equally brief, responses.  But when Strong asked… it went a little differently.
Relationships: Male Sole Survivor/Strong, Nate/Strong, Sole Survivor/Strong
Series: Stronger [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953787
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Stronger

**Author's Note:**

> Sole Survivor is a trans man named Nicky. He and Strong are companions at this time, but nothing more.

All Nicky’s companions had asked about Nate at one point or another. They all got different, but equally brief, responses. Even Piper, who had pushed and pushed for more like she always did. It just wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, to talk about your dead husband who’d been shot in front of you the same day your baby was taken. So he offered the most basic of responses.

He was a good man.

I loved him very much.

I miss him every day.

Each one true, each one barely scratching the surface of Nicky’s feelings for the love he’d lost.

But when Strong asked… it went a little differently.

They were sitting by a campfire that night, roasting a little radstag Strong had caught for them. Nicky was poking the fire and humming softly, and Strong’s forehead was wrinkled up the way it was when he was thinking too hard.

Nicky smiled at him absently. There was something charming about that expression. “What’s on your mind, big guy?”

Strong looked up at Nicky, his response not even taking a moment’s hesitation. “What is Nate?”

The smile slowly faded from Nicky’s face, and he sighed softly, turning over a log in the fire to distract himself. “Why do you ask?”

“Nicky’s humans say ‘Nate’ when Nicky’s not around.”

Nicky took a long moment to consider this. Of course they talked about it behind his back. Though he knew their intentions were likely good, this stung and twisted his heart into a bit of anger. He quickly managed to put the feeling aside and nodded slowly. “Nate was someone very important to me. He was my husband.”

Strong gave him a questioning look.

“A husband, a, um…” he struggled to find words Strong would understand. “It’s someone who… you promise to be together forever.”

“Why?”

Nicky exhaled slowly. Strong’s questions were always hard to answer, but this one took the cake. “Because… when you’re together, it makes you both better. Stronger.”

Now Strong looked puzzled. “Stronger?”

“Yeah,” Nicky muttered, shrugging. “Like… you remember how I explained to you that when I was born, people thought I was a girl?”

Strong grunted his acknowledgement of the memory.

“Well… I didn’t know I was a man until I was a lot older. I didn’t understand, I didn’t know myself. I was already with Nate then, but we weren’t married- he wasn't my husband yet. And one day when we were together… I just started crying, and I told him the truth. That I was a man.” Despite himself, Nicky began to smile again, watching the embers glow and fizzle out one after another. “He… wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t angry. He told me it was going to be okay. We got married and moved far way, where no one would know me as a woman. He helped me to live as myself. He made me so much stronger. I wouldn’t be who I am today if I hadn’t had him in my life.”

Strong sat still and listened, then stayed quiet for long minutes after, absorbing the information. Nicky was pretty used to that by now, so he didn’t disturb Strong while his mind worked through the intricacies of what he’d just heard.

Finally, strong spoke, and when he did, he sounded very certain and determined. “Strong can be Nicky’s husband.”

Nicky’s eyes went wide as they shot up to Strong’s face. Was he joking? Did supermutants have the capacity for humor? “I-“

Nicky didn’t know what he was going to say, but that was okay, because Strong didn’t let him finish anyway.

“Nicky needs to be stronger.” As if to prove his point, he reached out and poked a still aching bandaged wound from the day before, causing Nicky to hiss in pain. “Husband makes Nicky stronger. Strong can be Nicky’s husband.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Nicky mumbled weakly. He hadn’t imagined the explanation could’ve gone so wrong. “It’s… it’s not that simple, Strong. I explained it badly, I’m sorry. Husbands are more than just partners that fight together. They kiss, they h-have sex-“ God, he was blushing now. “there’s romance involved. They have to love each other.”

Strong stared at him blankly for a long minute, then turned his eyes downward and huffed before lapsing back into a thoughtful silence, processing this new information.

Nicky had no way of knowing if Strong understood him or not. He hoped to God he did, and that he wouldn’t entertain these ideas any more.

Yet as he fell asleep, he gazed at Strong through the dying flames. Strong was lying on his back staring at the stars like he always did. He knew Strong would stay up all night to watch over him, only sleeping when they reached a settlement again. Strong was always protecting him. And Nicky wouldn’t deny how safe he felt in the mutant’s presence. But he tried, very hard, to deny the tingling warmth in his heart every time his eyes fell on Strong once again.


End file.
